A storybook where Dad and the kids are both the heroes
Dad rides out beside your child as a hero in the story, not as its subject. Both are drawn from the photos you upload. Hardcover, 24 pages, 19 original illustrations, printed in the USA, $59.99. A person checks your photos before any work starts, and it takes about two weeks door to door.
Buying a gift for a father is a strangely short list. A mug. Socks. Another bottle of something. A tool he turns out to already own.
The problem is not a shortage of ideas. The problem is that anything you can buy, he could have bought himself — and mostly already decided not to. The only way around that is to give him something that does not exist yet, and cannot, until you make it.
Not a book about Dad. A book Dad is in.
This is the part worth being precise about, because most personalized books for fathers are books about the father. He is the subject. The child hands it over, he reads two pages about how great he is, everyone is briefly embarrassed, and it goes on a shelf.
A Kindlevale story does the opposite. Your child is the hero, and Dad is in the story with them — walking ahead with the lantern, arguing with a dragon who turns out to be cold rather than dangerous, getting home in time for bed. He is not the moral of the story. He is a character in it, drawn from your photograph, on nineteen pages.
The difference shows up at bedtime. A book about Dad gets read once, warmly. A book with Dad in it gets read on a Tuesday in November, and then again on Wednesday, because the child wants to see themselves.
Who can be in it
One or two children, plus Dad. Two children is the cap, and we would rather put that in plain text here than let you discover it at checkout.
It is not an arbitrary limit. Past three heroes the faces get small, the compositions get crowded, and the whole point — a child recognizing themselves — quietly stops working. We would rather sell you a book that lands than one that technically fits everyone in.
Mom and grandparent editions are being written. The family dog is free, and there is a reasonable chance he ends up a dragon.
What you actually get
A printed hardcover on thick durable paper: 24 pages, 19 original illustrations, written for children aged four to ten, with the digital PDF included. $59.99, plus $9.99 US shipping. Digital-only is $19.99. Printed and shipped inside the USA.
The story is written for the child who will hear it read aloud — one bedtime long, with a real ending rather than a moral.
How it works
- You send one to three photos of Dad and the kids, their names, and their ages.
- You choose a world — Dragon Peaks, the Moonsea, or the Wandering Wood.
- A person checks your photos before any illustrating starts, and emails you if one won't work.
- Every page is checked by a person before printing. Then it ships from a US printer to your door.
The longer version — the photo check, the character sheets, the human review of every page, and exactly where AI is and is not involved — is in what happens after you upload a photo. What happens to the photos themselves, with dates, is in photo safety.
Why it costs what it costs
There are cheaper personalized books, and some of them are fine. Here is what the difference buys, stated plainly so you can decide whether you want it:
- If it arrives wrong, it is on us. Damaged, misprinted, or simply not the book you ordered: we reprint it free or refund you in full. Send a photo of the problem within 30 days.
- A person reviews every page against a written list of the ways this kind of illustration goes wrong — style drift, wrong clothes, dissolving hands.
- Nineteen original illustrations, not three illustrations and a name swapped into a template.
- Printed in the USA, on thick durable paper, hardcover.
Cheap personalized books are usually cheap because a name is dropped into artwork that already existed. Nothing here already existed.
Ordering for a date
About two weeks from order to shelf. That includes writing the story, creating all 19 illustrations, printing in the USA, and the carrier's transit time.
For Father's Day, a birthday, or Christmas, order at least three weeks ahead. We publish an order-by date before each holiday, and we honor it. If we cannot ship in time, you get told before the deadline and you can cancel for a full refund; that is written into our Terms, not just intended.
Start with the photo
Pick the photo where you can actually see their faces. That one decision does more for the finished book than anything else you will choose.
Frequently asked questions
Can both of my children be in the book?
Yes. One or two children, plus Dad. Two is the cap, and we would rather say so here than at checkout — with three or four children the faces get small, the story gets crowded, and nobody comes out looking like themselves.
Can it be Mom, or Grandpa, instead of Dad?
Not yet. Today's edition is written for one or two children with their dad along for the adventure. Mom and grandparent editions are being written. If that is what you need, email us and we will tell you when it is ready rather than sell you the wrong book.
Will he actually look like himself?
He will read as himself in a storybook — the hair, the beard, the build, the way he is put together. Not photo-realism; a stylized likeness that stays consistent across all 19 illustrations. A person checks your photos before any work begins, and if a book ever arrives wrong we reprint it free.
What photo should we send?
One to three photos, at least 1000 pixels on the short edge, up to 10 MB each. Faces sharp, faces reasonably large in the frame, and easy to tell who is who. A single good photo with everyone in it beats three mediocre ones.
How long does it take, and can it arrive for Father's Day?
About two weeks from order to shelf. For a dated occasion, order at least three weeks ahead. We publish an order-by date before each holiday and we honor it.
What if the dog needs to be in it?
The dog rides free, and may well end up a dragon.
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